Curveballs
by The Periodic Table of Converse
Summary: "The question is, are they true?" "Course they're not. Demigods don't exist. And Percy isn't tough enough to handle being one anyways. Right Percy? You don't have a camp necklace or a magic sword or a shield in your wristwatch. Right?" One-shot. Rated K for Kool-Aid. Previously Rebellious Goody Two-Shoes
1. Curveballs

**Curveballs**

"**The question is, are they true?" "Course they're not. Demigods don't exist."** **"And Percy isn't tough enough to handle being one anyways. Right Percy? You don't have a camp necklace or a magic sword or a shield in your wristwatch. Right?" One-shot.**

**- O -**

_**Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.**_

**-Buddha**

**- O -**

He returns to school on a Thursday, in mid-March, and suspects the rumors will begin leaking into circulation soon enough. Unsurprisingly, by second period, the only thing people do is whisper and stare at him from behind locker doors, classroom windows and their fellow peers. Obviously they're looking at his newest souvenirs- the scars on his arms and legs and face and neck- from Tartarus, and the entire half of his hair that's grey from the stress.

Still, he had at least expected maybe a warm welcome back from the girls that would follow him around during changing periods, or concerned questions from his teachers.

What Percy Jackson didn't expect was the cold shoulder from everyone, including his small group of friends.

His first attempt at talking to somebody was a flop- he'd approached Jeremy, one of his best friends from swim team, while he was at his locker. Then he'd tried to start up a conversation and Jeremy had hightailed it out of there, leaving his locker open and his books spilling out onto the floor.

The next try, an advancement on Kylie, another swimmer, was almost as bad. He had run into her in the middle of a crowded hallway, and before she had the chance to give him he slip, his hand was clenched firmly around her bicep. She'd had no qualms over kicking him in the shin, despite the heavy brown boots she was wearing, and ducking into the girl's bathroom.

It isn't until his third try that Percy Jackson gets some answers, from Kylie's twin brother, Jason, who looks around hurriedly when Percy approaches, as though people are going to catch him talking to Percy, and promises to bring everyone by at lunch. 'Everyone' entails the small group of friends Percy put together in freshman year, consisting of Kylie, Jason, Jeremy and Allie, the only other Fish trying out for a spot on the swim team.

So Percy is contempt, and wanders a little dreamily through the first half of his day at Goode, satisfied with how close his answers are. The teachers don't bother getting him to try and pay attention. Whenever he glances at them, or meets their eyes, they look… scared almost.

Weird.

Lunch can't come fast enough.

Percy waits for them at their usual table- the one in the back of the cafeteria near the windows. It's the smallest one the school has, so immediately Kylie claimed it for them. No one else cared to argue for it, and the table was officially known as 'Percy's table'.

The first people to arrive are Kylie and Jason, who both sit down as far away as they can from Percy. He shoots the sibling a weird look, which they fidget under and try to ignore, and goes back to eating his cheese sandwich.

Jeremy and Allie arrive five minutes later, and join the twins in sitting away from Percy. The demigod pushes his tray to the side and rests his elbows and forearms on the table like people always tell you not to.

"What's up?" He questions, and Jeremy fidgets under his intense gaze. The sea green of Percy's glare darkens until his eyes are practically black.

"Oh, we just… you know…" Jason tries at the same time Kylie demands,

"Do you know who Rick Riordan is?"

Percy recoils at the question. Sure, he's heard of the guy. Allie is a bookworm, and always seems to be going off about the latest bestseller, but no. Percy has never met and he's certainly never read any of his work.

"No," he ventures cautiously. "Why?"

His friends exchange a glance.

"Well…" Allie begins. "I was at the bookstore, see, because I wanted to see if they were selling Allegiant yet, because I loved Divergent and Insurgent, and then… I saw an interesting book…"

"Oh, for the love of! Here!" Kylie, always straight to the point, slams a boxed set of five books down onto the table. And then, she reaches into her backpack and pulls out four more, all hardcover. "Recognize these?"

Percy pulls the first book out of the box and looks at the title with wide eyes.

"No…" He breathes. "This isn't… Is it really…?" Printed in dull gold letters is the title of the book: _Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief_.

"Open to a random page." Jeremy urges, and Percy does, almost unwillingly. He just has to see if…

_We huddled in the corner on some mildewed feed sacks, trying to ignore the smell and the heat and the flies. Grover talked to the animals in a series of goat bleats, but they just stared at him sadly. Annabeth was in favor of breaking the cages and freeing them on the spot, but I pointed out it wouldn't do much good until the truck stopped moving. Besides, I had a feeling we might look a lot better to the lion than those turnips._

"Recognize that?" Kylie asks snidely. Percy looks up with a look of shock on his face.

"Where did you get this? And what's in those?" He demands. Allie speaks up timidly.

"Only everything you've done since you were twelve, including where you were when you weren't here." She says. "The question is, are they true?"

Jason snorts. "Course they're not. Demigods don't exist." He claims. "And Percy isn't tough enough to handle being one anyways. Right Percy? You don't have a camp necklace or a magic sword or a shield in your wristwatch. Right?"

His four friends lean forward in anticipation.

"Percy." Kylie says, softer this time. "Tell us these aren't true."

But Percy says nothing.

And his friends stare at his solemn eyes, their expressions shifting one by one from impatient to shocked.

"Come on Percy. Quit playing around." Allie begs. "Tell me these are false so I don't have to worry about this kind of thing whenever I pick up a book. Please!"

Percy swallows and looks at the faces of his friends. "I can't. You weren't supposed to find out." And then somehow the long shirtsleeve on his left forearm is pulled up to his elbow and a burn gleams up at the five of them: an elaborate black trident, the acronym SQPR and a single solid black stripe. Allie and Kylie let out strangled gasps.

Jason takes Percy's arm in his hand. "You saved Manhattan. You saved the world. You were offered immortality."

And Percy nods. "Yes."

**A/N: Okay, major plot-bunny reliever. Like, it sucks. Seriously. But I posted it because I don't see many- if any- takes on what would happen if suddenly, the mortals knew everything. And it irked me. So maybe you guys will appreciate the effort. ;)**

**Review anyways!**


	2. AN

**A/N: Wow, all y'all guys are gonna be all pissed off at me, but this is not an update. Sorry. Just wanted ta' say, first, I won't be expanding on this story or any of the other definite one-shots I have written (unless I get the best idea). Sorry, all you reviewers who beg for more.**

**And second, I need prompts. I like genderswapping Tony or Steve, because I can see them either way. I think they're cute, with their different personalities and weirdness. They're cute together. I don't do slash, smut or anything with Loki… sorry. I hate that stuff.**

**Now, on to other orders of business:**

**You people are so schweet! I just wanna pinch y'all's cheeks. I could eat you right up, yes I could, **_**yes I could!**_** Any and all reviews, favorites and follows mean the world to me, you probably know that. So anybody who did anything to say, "Hey, your writing doesn't totally suck, I don't necessarily want to barf if I have to read what you write." Is okay in my books. My work is dedicated to you!**

**So, to recap- One-shots are staying one-shots, I need ideas, review, review, review! Did I forget anything?**

**Oh yeah.**

**Uploads are never planned. Sowwy. But school is unpredictable (I'm in a special program for special kids… it's all advanced and really hard and stuff) and I suck at committing to anything that doesn't really matter in life. SO…**

**Please check out my profile for stories I'm thinking about doing. There's a couple PJO topics, and one Avengers one, but I have a couple floating around in my brain. If you're interested, feel free to just take an idea. I'll probably never get around to doing them anytime soon.**

**I'm posting this to all my stories but still! Feel free to pass the news on, my peeps! I crave the love!**

_**- tPToC**_


End file.
